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Smart devices: A threat to privacy?

 What is privacy?

Diagram Description automatically generated
Privacy is defined as a set of information that one would like to keep to oneself or would share with someone that he or she trusts.
Imagine, you are planning a trip with your friend on call. The moment you open your search engine to know about the place you see advertisements of restaurants and places to visit at that location. Seems coincidence, doesn’t it? Or is it something else?
Recently, a lot of advancements are happening in the field of IOT. Due to this, intelligent systems like smart phones, smart devices like Alexa and google are becoming more common in day-to-day life. These devices are equipped with various types of sensors and communications systems, which are linked to the internet. These sensors contain a lot of data which are analysed to provide better service to the customer. This is a set of personal data, and the majority of this data possess privacy and security risks. Not only this, but when you visit a website, make payment by your credit card or shop online you leave some information about you which is known as digital footprint.
The digital footprint is a trail of data that you create while using the internet. E.g., your search history. Everyone who is connected to the internet has a digital footprint. Your digital footprint is often used by malicious users to obtain your personal information, your interests. They are used by marketing companies to find what product must the user be interested in; your social media account shows you relevant feeds and ads by using your digital footprint and many more. These are some pieces of one’s personal data, which are shared without the knowledge of the user. The user agrees to all these just by accepting the terms and conditions of the apps and devices.
It is very critical and confidential data, which is used by hackers to blackmail the individual or to ask for ransom. These data must be protected at any cost. Leaking of such data would cause chaos in the society. A good example of this is the recent Facebook data leak where millions of users’ data were acquired without individuals’ consent. Fortunately, the official investigation did not identify any misuse of the data. Just imagine, if a company like Facebook can have security flaws, then what it takes them to hack common people like us.
Another example is WhatsApp's updated privacy policy. According to this new policy, WhatsApp will share the user data with Facebook. 
The updated WhatsApp terms will help Facebook and connected third-party apps to exploit user data for commercial gain, including personal data, breaching user’s privacy, according to Apar Gupta, executive director of Internet Freedom Foundation, a digital liberties organisation.
Some people might think of it as a trade; that you give up some data in order to get the convenience. But they don’t know what happens when their data is shared with unknown third-party companies.
We need the companies to redesign the smart devices and the policy, keeping the user’s privacy in mind. They should understand that it’s not okay to share the data of the users for some survey or business! We need to get security and privacy of these devices right.
Because what is the point of locking a house with a key, if anyone can enter with an internet connected device?
How to improve digital privacy:
  • Avoid sharing too much personal information on social media.
  • Use private mode while browsing.
  • Use a virtual private network (VPN).
  • Download from a trusted website only
  • Have a strong password.
  • Use an ad blocker wherever possible.
  • Use a good quality antivirus.
It is true that smart devices and IOT are meant to improve people's lives. But at what cost?
References: ‘Privacy concerns in smart homes: Springer’, ‘The Hindu’, ‘NBC news’
Image source: Google
-Deep (1st Runner-up Dayatva Blog Carnival)

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